Association football, commonly known as football, or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players each, who primarily use their feet to propel a ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is to score more goals than the opposing team by moving the ball beyond the goal line into a rectangular-framed goal defended by the opposing team. Traditionally, the game has been played over two 45-minute halves, for a total match time of 90 minutes. With an estimated 250 million players active in over 200 countries and territories, it is the world's most popular sport.
The attacking player (No. 10) attempts to kick the ball into the net behind the opposing team's goalkeeper (here wearing red and yellow) to score a goal.
An early draft of the original hand-written 'Laws of the Game' drawn up on behalf of The Football Association by Ebenezer Cobb Morley in 1863 on display at the National Football Museum, Manchester, England
The Aston Villa team in 1897, after winning both the FA Cup and the English Football League
The Zamalek team in 1921, after winning the Sultan Hussein Cup, the first title in Egyptian football history, 1921
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby league, and rugby union.
A men's association football player (Karim Benzema)
A women's association football player (Marta Torrejón)
José Mourinho is a retired football player who post-retirement has worked as a football manager.
Pia Sundhage is a retired football player who post-retirement has worked as the football manager for the United States and Sweden national teams.
